Indra Lesmana and Mostly Jazz XXIX: LLW

Many of the jazz aficionados were caught by surprise when, out of nowhere, came an e-flyer of an event called Mostly Jazz featuring a combination that no one would ever think of. The iconic and respected Indra Lesmana teamed up with one of the fastest rising stars and crowd gatherer Barry Likumahuwa and the all round young drummer, Sandy Winarta. It all happened in April 21, 2010. What made us surprise was the move of Indra Lesmana to grab two of the most established young musicians as a part of his way to make something big for the jazz development in Indonesia. They hadn’t got any names at that time. Moscatly which is located at the fringe of Jl Veteran in Bintaro became the first witness of the early seed. A crazy list of jazz artists were presented at that time, such as Riza Arshad, Indra Aziz, Indrawan Tjhin, Indra Dauna, EQ Puradiredja, Dira Sugandi, Andien, Doni Sundjoyo, Joy Marantika, F.A Talafaral, Don Tham, Aditya Bayu and Nikita Dompas, just to mention a few. In our report on this historical moment, we called it the birth of Indonesia’s Jazz Movement. (Read the report here). Eventhough Indra Lesmana had started the movement by opening his Inline Studio every Friday Night for free-for-all jam sessions, the first ever Mostly Jazz was a giant step because it was finally served for public for the first time.

Several months after that, we got another surprise when Mostly Jazz reappeared again on November 14, 2010. Indra and Honhon took this event into the new venue Red and White Lounge which become the crime scene of Mostly Jazz up ever since. We met the trio of Indra Lesmana, Barry Likumahuwa and Sandy Winarta once again at the 3rd episode on December 12. This time they already had a name, showing that they have established this collaboration as a solid group. And the name is LLW, stands as the abbreviation of their family names also often mentioned as the title of their album, Love, Life, Wisdom.

This group made their second turn in the next episode on January 9. At that moment, Honhon Lesmana officially announced this event will be served weekly. Now Mostly Jazz has reached the 29th edition, and now we have LLW back again. Not only performing, this time LLW invites you all to celebrate their album which is finally available in the shape of digital CD.

It’s certainly interesting to see this trio. Indra Lesmana is the icon that carried the legacy of his father, Jack Lesmana who also led the earlier jazz movement around three decades ago. Now the torch is in his hand. Realizing his calling, he’s now commited to bring this Indonesia’s jazz movement into a new height. He’s successfully done it until now, but it’s not over yet. He’s still carrying it at the best he can. The Mostly Jazz will continue on for more months or even years to come, hopefully. And for the LLW, this group has been making tremendous achievements not only for the local jazz scene but also internationally. It’s amazing, especially since they just started the journey not too long ago. Two ‘naughty’ musicians are with him in LLW. Barry Likumahuwa is a shining bassist from the young generation. He’s explosive, powerful and skillful. Often he steals some lines during the play with his groovy bass touch, creating surprising sounds here and there. Sandy Winarta is just the same behind his drums. This guy can optimize the sound of drums, changing the style all of a sudden without destroying the flow. He can make the drums come alive and communicate with us. With the unpredictable manouvers from Indra Lesmana whether on keyboard, Fender Rhodes, Hammond, piano, melodica, Moog and any other instruments (even drums if necessary), this man can always create the whole new game with his magic touch. If the three of them are already spectacular in creating a fully spirited jazz, wait until you see how they can stretch it much further by the contributions of four other artists: DJ Cream, Dira Sugandi, Indra Aziz and Kyriz Boogiemen. It’s like having a new dimension of jazz in the urban environment. Add the word soulful with Dira in it, and there, you got the new magic of jazz unlike what you’ve heard before.

LLW started by releasing the album in the mp3 format, distributed by Amazon, iTunes and Reverbnation. They directly made big achievements soon after. Being listed as no 1 Jazz Artist in Reverbnation for Indonesia region and no 41 worldwide, reaching the top 18 Jazz Best Sellers on iTunes in just a week or so are something we all should proud of. Recently Honhon said that LLW – Love Life Wisdom has made it as the 15 World Playlist in LA Times Magazine. It should be very special especially to Indra Lesmana since this album celebrates his 35th anniversary of his journey in jazz, which was all started by his participation in “Jazz Masa Lalu dan Kini” live album in 1976.

For making this historical moment of LLW more special, other than presenting a special show at the Mostly Jazz this Sunday, there will be a special two hours of clinic too that will be held on July 11,12 and 13 starting at 3pm until 5pm at Inline Music, Jl RC Veteran 555 unit 8H, Rempoa/ Bintaro, Jakarta. It’s open for everybody who’s interested in jazz. The clinic will be based on their knowledge and explerience in jazz. There, LLW will share everything about their concept. The kind of jazz they play, influences and the new album Love Life Wisdom. The admission fee will be IDR 150.000/day, including a free CD of LLW’s album. For more info and registration, please refer to this page.

There are many Indonesian jazz musicians both individually and groups now shine internationally, something that they really deserve. One of them is of course LLW who has opened up the yes of jazz lovers around the world to see the awesomeness of jazz from Indonesia. We are looking at the ambassadors of Indonesia that make us proud. While the politics keep on exporting ridiculous bad campaign of Indonesia world wide, these jazz heroes have done remarkable efforts to prove the otherwise.

Let’s celebrate the official release of LLW album in the shape of CD, and enjoy the magical moment from these jazz wizards. The whole team of LLW will be there for certain, so we will get the whole complete pictures along with their wild exploration on creating such music. Will there be jam session? You bet. Indra Aziz will guard this section as always. It’s time to get stunned this Sunday, so make sure you won’t miss it!

Position: Editor in Chief |
DOB: September 14 |
Occupation: Jazzuality CEO |
You like Jazz because: many reasons, but mostly because this is the music that’s been with me from the moment I was born, and another thing, it’s unpredictable. I love it that way. |
Motto: Nothing is impossible, impossible is nothing.